Gymnastics Skills Are All In The Family

Sports

ST. CLOUD — Jerry and Meaghan Wood have graduated from cartwheels in the family living room three years ago to turning heads at national gymnastics competitions.

The St. Cloud youngsters' bedrooms are filling up with a collection of gymnastics awards.

Students of Price's World of Gymnastics in Kissimmee, the siblings sparkled at the Amateur Athletic Union Age-Group National Championships earlier this month at Disney's Wide World of Sports.

''When I first started I didn't know what gymnastics was, but I like it fine now,'' Jerry said.

Jerry topped 14 competitors to win a Level 6 floor exercise gold medal, was fifth on the high bar, sixth on rings, seventh on vault and pommel horse routines. With an accumulative score of 107.25, he placed fifth all-around among 9- and 10-year-old boys.

''I was really nervous . . . thought I was going to do bad,'' said Jerry, 10, a Hickory Tree Elementary school fifth-grader this fall. ''But I tried to do my best and my best came out.''

Meaghan scored 74.675 to finish runner-up in Level 2 all-around competition among 44 gymnasts in her age group. She was second in floor, third in vault and uneven bars, 15th on beam routines.

''I was surprised because I'd never scored that high before,'' said Meaghan, 7, a second-grader at Hickory Tree who prefers gymnastics to school because school cuts into play time.

Patricia Wood said gymnastics keeps her children busy, but the travel schedule can be a drain on family finances.

''It keeps them away from too much television, but we're on the road to practices five days a week, and every other weekend they have a meet.

''We've traveled to Tallahassee, Naples and, later this year, to Nebraska for the AAU Nationals,'' she said.

The bottom line is ''I'm having fun,'' said Jerry, who favors the pommel horse, but determines floor exercise to be his strength.

''I'd like to be an Olympian,'' he said. If that fails to materialize, Jerry would like to someday coach the sport.

Patricia and Jerry Sr. refrain from pushing their children too hard.

''We've told them several times they can try other things, like going out for swim teams, but they don't want to. They like gymnastics and have fun doing it,'' Patricia Wood said. ''I think they get a lot of self-satisfaction from the sport because it is so tough to master.''

Meaghan, who reserves enough energy for ballerina lessons, wouldn't mind participating in an Olympiad, but won't be crushed if it doesn't happen.